Order. Order! Order? – Visiting Judicial Controversies of 2015

Whittier wrote –“For all sad words of tongue or pen,The saddest are these : It might have been.”Shedding the controversies of the winter past, 2015 wrote its own bundle of issues. Apart from the political establishments which have mastered the art of controversies and which probably run their business on controversies, the judiciary too this year proved correct Whittier’s notion of...

Women Lawyers move SC seeking Castration of those convicted of Sexually Assaulting Children [Read Petition]

Amidst concern over rise in incidents of sexual assault on children across the country, a public interest litigation has been filed by women lawyers for the first time before the Supreme Court  demanding castration of those convicted of child sex abuse.The PIL filed by the Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association through its General Secretary Prerna Kumari prayed to the apex court to ...

Indian Judiciary's take on Contempt of Courts: Revisiting the year 2015

"The object of the discipline enforced by the Court in case of contempt of court is not to vindicate the dignity of the Court or the person of the Judge, but to prevent undue interference with the administration of justice." -Bowen, L.J. in Hellmore v. Smith (2) (1886), L. R. 35 C. D. 455. The object of conferring power to punish for its contempt on courts under contempt of courts Act, 1971 ...

Exclusive; This Powerful Dissent of Prof. Sridhar in CIC Order shows 'all was not well in #DDCA'

Even as the nation remains transfixed with the controversy surrounding Arun Jaitley’s role as the head of the scam-hit DDCA from 1999 onwards for a period of 13 years, it has now come to light that the Central Information Commission by a majority of 2:1 vide judgment dated 13.04.2015 has deferred for consideration the question as to whether the DDCA would be a public authority within...

Negotiable Instrument (Amendment) Act 2015 comes in to force with retrospective effect [Read the Text]

The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Act 2015 came in to force with retrospective effect. According to the notification published in the official Gazette dated 26.12.2015 the Amendment shall be deemed to have come into force on the 15th day of June, 2015. Rajya Sabha passed the Negotiable Instrument (Amendment) Bill 2015 on 7th December 2015 . Lok Sabha had passed the Bill in August...

LIC cannot nullify provisions of Insurance Act by issuing Circulars: SC upholds Bombay HC judgment which held that insurance policies are assignable [Read Judgment]

In our considered opinion it is not open to the Appellants (LIC) to charter a course which is different to the postulation in the Insurance Act, by means of its own Circulars, the Court said.The Apex Court in LIC of India vs. Insure Policy plus Services Pvt. Ltd has upheld the Bombay High Court ruling that the insurance policies issued by LIC are transferable and assignable in accordance with...

SARFAESI Act is a Complete Code and there is no Lacuna or Ambiguity to warrant reading something more into it; SC [Read Judgment]

There is no plausible reason as to take recourse to any provisions of the Companies Act and permit interference in the proceedings under the SARFAESI Act either by the Company Judge or the liquidator, the Court said.The Supreme Court, has held that the Company Judge cannot interfere in a proceedings by a secured creditor to realize its secured interests as per provisions of the SARFAESI Act....

Kerala Liqour Policy; Placing a moratorium on hotels other than Five Star is not a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution; SC [Read Judgment]

In a major setback to the bar owners in Kerala, the Supreme Court has upheld the controversial Abkari policy for the year 2014-2015 framed by the Kerala Government restricting the issuance of bar licenses (FL-3) to five-star hotels in the State to serve alcohol to the public, and not to renew the existing bar licences issued to any of the other hotels. Additionally, the Government had decided...

Breaking; Supreme Court upholds Kerala Liquor policy confining bar permits to only 5 star hotels [Read Judgment]

In a massive blow to three, four star and lower level bar owners in Kerala, the Supreme Court today upheld the state government's new liquor policy to confine bar license to only 27 five star bars in the state."Appeals are dismissed. The judgment of the division bench of Kerala High Court is upheld", a bench of Justices Vikramajit Sen and Shiva Kirti Singh said in a court packed with...

Best of 2015; Read 25 Significant Judgments delivered by Supreme Court of India this year

As 2015 is going to end soon and we are about to see the dawn of 2016, it is the apt time to have a relook at what all we did this year. For humans living in legal world, viz. Lawyers, reporters and Law student, it is apt time to re look at what Supreme Court said this year. What new interpretation of law did the Apex Court offer and what Law has been struck down? We at LiveLaw,...

Breaking; Supreme Court declines immediate relief to Maharashtra's encounter cops, who have no option but to surrender [Read Petition]

The 11 convicted encounter cops, whose sentences were suspended by Maharashtra Government in an atrocious order on 2 December and who were directed to surrender before 4 January by the Bombay High Court, today were denied immediate relief  by the Supreme Court's Vacation Bench comprising Justices  SA Bobde and Prafulla C Pant.The convicts, Dilip Sitaram Palande and others, in their SLPs,...

Right to Practise Law is not absolute; Restriction imposed by Section 36(4) of ID Act is not violative of Advocates Act/Article 19(1)(g); Allahabad HC

No lawyer has any right to appear in a particular case and debarring a lawyer from one case does not infringe his right to practise, the Court said.Allahabad High Court has held that Section 36(3) and (4) of the Industrial Disputes Act, which disentitles a party to be represented by an Advocate unless with the consent of opposite parties and leave of Labour court, is not violative of...